Thursday, 21 June 2018

New photo of some Tauros bulls

Anyone can guess what kind of breeds or crossbreeds these bulls are and it is probably impossible to find out with the information given in the web, but I speculate that the lying bull at the right might be a pure Maronesa, the bull left to it a Maronesa crossbreed, the bull right in the back a Maremmana crossbreed and no idea on the last one. EDIT: Geer vanne Smeed told me that according to his opinion the crossbred bulls might be Limia x Maremmana, Maremmana x Maronesa and Maronesa x Limia as those were the breeds present in the herd during the last years As to the looks of the bulls, the colour is flawless in all individuals. The body shape of the bulls in the foreground cannot be determined as they are lying on the ground, but all of them seem to have a hump and are not that bulky. They might not be quite as large and long-legged as average Taurus bulls, but it is clear from the photos that they are more aurochs-like than classic Heck bulls (such as this one in Vielank, for comparison). As the Tauros Programme and the Auerrind project are cooperating now, future generations might obtain the genes for really large-sized and large-horned animals thanks to Chianina and Watussi-influence. I especially love the head and horns of the putative Maronesa bull in the front. The horn curvature is identical to some European aurochs skulls (mind that those only show the horn cores, so that the horn sheath would make them longer and more pronounced in life, i.e. the horns of the bulls are still a little shorter and less curved than in an aurochs), and the snout is not as shortened as usual in Maronesa and still longer than in many Heck bulls.

Size is definitely not one of the simplest traits to breed for, size is a trait that is controlled by many different loci. In humans it is influenced by at least 50 loci that have a more or less strong impact, and in cattle we may have a comparable situation. The more loci, the less easy to breed for. In fact, traits that are controlled by only a small number of loci or even only one, like colour, are the easiest to breed for. I did a couple of posts on that, such as this one: http://breedingback.blogspot.com/2017/08/the-genetic-and-developmental.html

Hi Daniel,good to see that you still "are watching me". In Kempen~Broek there is at this moment hardly any progress in the Taurosproject. There is many resistance en I think Ark and Free nature are very cautious. That's why you hear so less of me at this moment.In http://weertnatuur.blogspot.com/2015/10/taurossen-op-de-loozerheide-2015.html I wrote that there are 3 breeds: Limia, Maremmana and a Maronesa bull. So these are (as far I can see) the crossbreads you see there:LimiaXMaremmana, MaremmanaXMaronesa and LimiaXMaronesa.grtz Gerard

About this blog

This blog is on everything related to the so-called “breeding-back” of extinct animals: From the extinct animals themselves, over their often domestic descendants and dedomestication to news and facts about various breeding-back projects, reports and photos from my own breeding-back related trips. I try to have a balanced and fact-based approach to this subject and to dismantle many of the popular myths. Enjoy!

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About me

My major interest always have been extinct animals, from dinosaurs to Pleistocene megafauna and more recent extinctions. Besides that I am interested in evolution, genetics and ecology.
I am also an amateur animal artist, making drawings and models mostly of extinct animals.